This and That Kitchen

Friday, May 29, 2015

Friday Treat Day!

This recipe for healthy no sugar, no sweetener of any kind, kid and parent approved, no guilt cookie comes from The Skinny Fork

I pinned this recipe on pinterest a while ago and today seemed like a perfect day to try them out!

The recipe is as simple as:
2 mashed banana
1/3C creamy peanut butter
2/3C unsweetened applesauce

Mashed and mixed together

Add:
1 1/2C oats
1tsp vanilla
1tsp cinnamon

The original recipe calls for 1/2C of chocolate chips but since I was making these for little miss I decided to leave them out. I did put the tiniest dab of shaved 72% dark chocolate on top of about half of them.

Toddlers love to help and taste! No worries since there are no raw eggs in this recipe.

I sprayed coconut oil on my sheet pan and baked the cookies at 350 for about 25min and then let them sit on the pan for a few minutes to cool.

They stay together well and taste pretty good! Obviously not the same as a traditional cookie but pretty darn good for us!

Little Miss Approved!

Changes coming!

So...it's been awhile,

ok a long while! I had a baby and now she is a toddler and I am pretty devoted to providing her with healthy delicious food! We struggled a lot with her eating in the beginning. I wouldn't say she was extra picky as much as she just didn't eat much at all! It was so frustrating for me! I was determined to not give in to chicken nuggets and easy mac just so she would eat. For now she is eating pretty well. She is still a kid so she loves pizza and pasta but I try and make everything as nutrient dense as possible.

The next chapter of this blog will be all about what we eat, how I pack those nutrients in, how we have treats that don't ruin everything I'm trying to accomplish, and how we fun in the process.

I'm going to try and post twice a week to start. I have a long list of my normal go to meals and snacks, but lately I've been turning to Pinterest for inspiration.

Stay tuned....

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Parmesan crusted Steak

Parmesan Steak

Our Valentines Dinner

Let me start by saying we hadn't really planned on having a special meal because we were planning on going out to a nice dinner on Saturday. When I went to the grocery store on V-Day I saw these yummy looking filets and I hadn't made anything "special" in a while so I decided to go for it. Hubby's favorite topping for his steak is a gorgonzola cream sauce I make, but I didn't feel like that and I'm the Prego so I get the final say. I hadn't really decided what I was gonna do till a few hours later, which is why I used a whole piece of bread in my parmesan crust instead of bread crumbs.

In a food processor combine about 1 cup of parmesan cheese, 1 clove of garlic, 4TBS of softened butter, and in theory a handful of bread crumbs. I didn't have any so I tore up a piece of bread.

Pulse it together

It will look like this

Place it on parchment paper and fold the paper over and press it out so it's pretty thin

Like this, then wrap it back up and throw it in the freezer

Now for the steak! Hands down the best technique for cooking steak is NOT grilling. It's searing and finishing in the oven.

Step 1. Liberally salt and pepper the steak

I drizzled a tiny bit of oil in my screaming hot cast iron pan and then threw in 1 TBL of BUTTER

Place the steak SEASONED SIDE DOWN (FYI always put everything seasoned side down)

I then seasoned the side facing up.

Don't touch it for 2 min or so. After 2 min you can gently peak at the under side to see if you have some nice color and crust if you do flip it if not leave it alone for another minute.

Once both sides are seared (about 2 min on each side)

Top with your prepared parmesan crust and place pan in 400 degree oven.

(unless you are a pro the best thing to do to insure your steak is cooked properly is to use an instant read thermometer)

I cooked mine to medium (the way God intended) I actually removed mine at 135. It took 5-6 minutes. Remove from the oven and cover with foil to let rest for a few minutes.

	Rare		Medium-Rare		Medium		Medium-Well
	Remove	Ideal	Remove	Ideal	Remove	Ideal	Remove	Ideal
Beef Steaks	125º	130º	130º	135º	140º	145º	155º	160º

I served this with steamed broccoli and Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Spicy (as you like it) Yogurt marinated Chicken

Spicy (as you like it) Yogurt Marinated Chicken.

In a bowl add this much Turmeric

This pic is hard to figure out but it's red pepper flakes. (My chicken wasn't that spicy so if you want you can add more than this) Or add some hot sauce or something.

This much Paprika

This much garlic powder

Mix together with Plain Greek Yogurt. I used the whole 6oz cup

It will look like this.

Season with plenty of salt and pepper.

Cut up your chicken into big bite sizes

Combine chicken with yogurt mixture and chill for at least 15 min or so. It's not gonna be a disaster if it's already 6:00 and your family is hungry and you throw this in the oven right away.

I spread the chicken out on a foil lined cookie sheet and cooked at the highest my temp my oven would go. I had it on 500 but it started smoking so I lowered it to 450. I cooked it for about 12min or so. But depending on how big your pieces are and how hot your oven is your time will vary. Set your timer for 10-12 min and then test a piece to see if it's ready or if you need a few more minutes.

I served this with lemon and parsley couscous. No recipe, just cook your couscous, or rice or quinoa and add lemon zest, lemon juice, and chopped parsley. Something with citrus and lite tasting goes well with this.

Alternatively, You could leave the chicken whole, grill it, or skewer it.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars

From Pinterest

http://pinchofyum.com/peanut-butter-chocolate-chip-cookie-cheesecake-bars

This was delicious!!!! I followed the recipe exactly, except that I only had an 8X8 instead of 9inch pan as per the recipe so my cooking time was longer but these really were delicious!

No Bake Energy Bites

From Pinterest

http://fooddoodles.com/2012/01/12/chocolate-no-bake-energy-bites/

I made these almost according to the recipe listed. I used Pure Maple Syrup for my sweetner and I didn't add 3/4C of coconut I added a small handful of chopped up almonds and dried cranberries. This is so simple and adaptable you can make them according to your taste.